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Introducing... New & Improved quicker TCAP quick score

6/1/2015

 
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There was a meeting this afternoon in Memphis on the new method for calculating TCAP quick scores. The Memphis/Shelby County Education Association invited state officials to come out and answer questions from parents and teachers. Good thing we were a patient group because the state people showed up late----kinda like last year's quick scores. 

Remember that? Last year, quick scores were not sent out in time for report cards so quick scores were more like slow scores. Then, Erin O'Hara, the Assistant Commissioner for Data & Research told everybody last year that quick scores were late because of the post-equating process. And everybody scratched their head and asked what is post-equating? That is when it hit most people that TNDOE was doing some behind the scenes manipulating of test scores prompting state legislators to call for open records requests, state comptroller investigation, and a Tennessee Attorney General opinion. Then, Erin O'Hara resigned and took off on a European vacation. Hmmm, we are guessing her work was done. 

This year, the new fall guy, uh, we mean new Assistant Commissioner for Data & Research, Nakia Towns, showed up to answer questions. Towns took all the blame for the changes saying it was done to get the quick scores to the school districts on time. And the communication failure came about due to the transition of leadership. She apologized for the lack of timely information but stood behind the changes in calculations. 

Although, we are more psychomoms than psychometricians, we think this whole TCAP quick scoring mess is nothing more than a hocus pocus game being played with our children's test scores. We may not be experts on the whole methodology of standardized test scoring, but we do know a few things about it. TCAP scores have only been included in student grades since the 2011-2012 school year. And it has been four years of nothing but problems. So, maybe we need to revisit this policy. 

In 2012, the state had to explain the concept of quick scores to teachers. A memo went out from Zach Rosseley, the Assistant Commissioner of for Data and Communications. Zach Rosseley? Erin O'Hara? Nakia Towns? We are curious as to how many people have held that position since 2012? Sure does seem like a lot of turnover. 

But back to the memo.... Zach included the formula for computing quick scores and gave some examples but told teachers to disregard all the mathematical calculations because the state will convert the raw scores to quick scores for them. 

So, we took a couple of his examples and calculated them using the new & improved "cubic root" formula. One thing we noticed was that the old formula is much more time consuming. Tests had to be graded to determine proficiency levels before quick scores could be calculated. Under the new formula, you can plug in raw scores. It does not include the cut scores for proficiency so it is much quicker in calculating quick scores. But is the state sacrificing accuracy for speed?

Original Quick Score Formula used from 2012 to 2014

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New Quick Score Formula for 2015

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Under the old formula, a student who answered 50% of the questions correctly would receive a quick score of 74. But using the new & improved "cubic root" formula, a student who answered 50% of the questions correctly would receive a quick score of 80. WOW!! An extra six brownie points for it being 2015!

 A student who answered 94% of the questions correctly would go from a quick score of 95 to 98. 

Hmmm....we wonder if this is what the state legislature meant by students having "skin in the game" when it enacted the law including TCAP scores in student grades? Seems like the only game being played is by the TNDOE. 

And hold on to your hats...things are going to get even more crazy next year when TN Ready divides up the TCAP into a series of tests and includes the writing assessment in TCAP quick scores. Click here for the new testing calendar for 2015-2016.

Public School Advocacy Groups across TN Issue Call for Testing Transparency

6/1/2015

 
Momma Bears is proud to be a part of a coalition of education advocacy groups who are calling for a change in standardized testing. We believe it is wrong how tests are used as weapons to harm students, teachers, and schools.  Momma Bears are opposed to scarce tax dollars being wasted on tests when class sizes are too large, there is not enough support staff in schools, and important things like music, art, sports, and recess have been cut or eliminated due to the increasing cost and time of testing.  

Here is the press release about the awesome statement these groups are making
:

PRESS RELEASE: 


PUBLIC SCHOOL ADVOCACY GROUPS 
ACROSS TENNESSEE ISSUE CALL FOR TESTING TRANSPARENCY
TCAP questions spark call for accountability

(Nashville, TN) – More than a dozen grassroots organizations that support strong public schools across Tennessee are joining together to demand accountability from the Tennessee Department of Education in the wake of confusion created by the latest release of “quick scores” and associated raw “cut scores” from recent TCAP tests.

“The correlation between the quick scores and the raw cut scores is not well understood,” said Lyn Hoyt, President of Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence (TREE). “The Department of Education has not communicated well with school systems or the general public. What do these scores mean? How do they determine cut scores? What’s the math involved in pre-equating and post-equating?  These are among the questions we believe the DOE should have already answered. We’re calling on Commissioner McQueen to provide clear, direct answers immediately.”

The groups are jointly distributing a petition outlining some basic principles regarding testing going forward. The petition includes the following four principles that all groups believe should guide Tennessee testing policy going forward: 

1.     The process for determining cut scores should be clear and cut scores should be set and released before tests are administered.

2.     Tests must be transparent. Questions and answers should be available within a reasonable time after test administration.

3.     Standardized test scores should not be counted as a portion of a student’s final grade.

4.     Standardized test scores should not be used in teacher evaluation.

We believe these principles are fair and represent what parents want: Fair tests used to assess student learning relative to standards. By adopting these principles and the policies they would necessitate, we can return testing to its rightful place as one of many tools used to improve education, instead of the ultimate measure of student and teacher performance. 

It’s imperative that we move toward testing transparency – access to the questions and answers on the standardized tests – in order to ensure the tests are reliable and valid assessments of the standards being tested.

We’re calling on the Department of Education to take immediate action to address these concerns.

Groups participating in this network include:
TREE (Tennesseans Reclaiming Educational Excellence)
Strong Schools (Sumner County)
Williamson Strong (Williamson County)
SPEAK (Students, Parents, Educators Across Knox County)
SOCM (Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment)
Momma Bears
Gideon's Army, Grassroots Army for Children (Nashville)
Advocates for Change in Education (Hamilton County)
Concerned Parents of Franklin County (Franklin County)
The Dyslexia Spot
Parents of Wilson County, TN, Schools
Friends of Oak Ridge Schools (City of Oak Ridge Schools)
TNBATs (State branch of National BATs)
East Nashville United

###

Momma Bears defend and support children and public schools.  Momma Bears believe that quality public education is a right for every child.  We strive to protect our children, our public schools, and the teachers who nurture, inspire, and protect our children.   www.mommabears.org 

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   TAKE ACTION:

Momma Bears urge you to sign and share this online petition:  It is super-easy and only takes a few seconds to sign. 

https://www.change.org/p/bill-haslam-candice-mcqueen-tn-department-of-education-institute-fair-testing-policies-for-statewide-testing

Then contact the following leaders and let them know you want testing transparency:
  • Commissioner McQueen - Commissioner.McQueen@tn.gov 
  • Governor Haslam - bill.haslam@tn.gov 

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